Paul Hardart, Guest Columnist

Netflix Hammers the Last Nail Into Linear TV’s Coffin

Instead of trying to reinvent the wheel, it’s doing exactly what worked in the pre-streaming era by offering dramas, sitcoms, reality TV and live performances.

January 26, 2024 at 3:01 PM UTC

By Paul Hardart

Paul Hardart is director of the entertainment, media & technology program at NYU's Stern School of Business and founding director of the Graduate Program in Media Management at The New School. He was previously an executive at Universal and Warner Brothers.

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Photographer: Lionel Bonaventure/AFP

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Netflix just rocked Wall Street by announcing its fourth-quarter results. The streaming giant added 13.1 million subscribers over the last three months, beating its own forecast of 9 million, and nearly 30 million new subscribers flocked to the platform in 2023. Following the news, the company’s stock surged over 14%.

You’d be forgiven for being shocked. Reports, polls and studies have told us that consumers are tired of paying for subscriptions and churn rates — or cancellations — have been on the rise.